Geraldo Rivera Signs For Series Of Specials

July 15, 1986|By George Maksian, New York Daily News

When last we saw Geraldo Rivera, he was digging for buried gangster treasure in a Chicago hotel, and came up with two empty Coke bottles. No matter, his special, The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults, turned out to be a ratings blockbuster, becoming the highest-rated syndicated show ever, capturing an estimated 80 million viewers.

Rivera proved such an amiable host for the show that the producers, Tribune Entertainment, have signed him to do four more two-hour specials. The first will be The Doping of America, which will begin production next month for airing later this fall on the same syndicated lineup of stations. The program will take a hard look at drugs in the United States.

A spokesman for the Chicago-based production company said that subjects for the other three specials had not yet been determined.

Also in the works for Rivera is a daily one-hour talk show, which will be geared to the daytime female audience. The show, gearing up for an early January start, will originate from Chicago, with pickups from other locales such as New York and Los Angeles. A pilot will be made before a final commitment is made by the Tribune company.

Last fall, the 42-year-old Rivera made a stormy exit from ABC and its 20-20 newsmagazine. He'd been with the network for 15 years. The resignation came within two weeks of the roving reporter's public criticism of Roone Arledge, president of ABC News, for axing a controversial piece scheduled to air on 20/20 about the mystery surrounding the death of Marilyn Monroe.

The piece was done by his former colleague, Sylvia Chase, who also has left the network (for an anchor job in San Francisco). Arledge had been quoted as saying the Chase report was ''a piece of sleazy journalism,'' but later said that he had been misquoted.